MALPIGHI, MARCELLO(b. March 10, 1628, Crevalcore, near Bologna, Papal States [Italy]--d.
Nov. 30, 1694, Rome), Italian physician and biologist who, in developing
experimental methods to study living things, founded the science of microscopic
anatomy. After Malpighi's researches, microscopic anatomy became
a prerequisite for advances in the fields of physiology, embryology, and
practical medicine. (see also Index: microbiology)

Life

Little is known of Malpighi's childhood and youth except that his
father had him engage in "grammatical studies" at an early age and that
he entered the University of Bologna in 1646. Both parents died when he
was 21, but he was able, nevertheless, to continue his studies. Despite
opposition from the university authorities because he was non-Bolognese
by birth, in 1653 he was granted doctorates in both medicine and philosophy
and appointed as a teacher, whereupon he immediately dedicated himself
to further study in anatomy and medicine.

In 1656, Ferdinand II of Tuscany invited him to the professorship of
theoretical medicine at the University of Pisa. There Malpighi began
his lifelong friendship with Giovanni Borelli, mathematician and naturalist,
who was a prominent supporter of the Accademia del Cimento, one of the
first scientific societies. Malpighi questioned the prevailing medical
teachings at Pisa, tried experiments on colour changes in blood, and attempted
to recast anatomical, physiological, and medical problems of the day. Family
responsibilities and poor health prompted Malpighi's return in 1659
to the University of Bologna, where he continued to teach and do research
with his microscopes. In 1661 he identified and described the pulmonary
and capillary network connecting small arteries with small veins, one of
the major discoveries in the history of science. Malpighi's views
evoked increasing controversy and dissent, mainly from envy, jealousy,
and lack of understanding on the part of his colleagues. (see also Index:
pulmonary circulation)

Hindered by the hostile environment of Bologna, Malpighi accepted
(November 1662) a professorship in medicine at the University of Messina
in Sicily, on the recommendation there of Borelli, who was investigating
the effects of physical forces on animal functions. Malpighi was
also welcomed by Viscount Francavilla, a patron of science and a former
student, whose hospitality encouraged him in furthering his career. Malpighi
pursued his microscopic studies while teaching and practicing medicine.
He identified the taste buds and regarded them as terminations of nerves,
described the minute structure of the brain, optic nerve, and fat reservoirs,
and in 1666 was the first to see the red blood cells and to attribute the
colour of blood to them. Again, his research and teaching aroused envy
and controversy among his colleagues.

After four years at Messina, Malpighi returned in January 1667
to Bologna, where, during his medical practice, he studied the microscopic
subdivisions of specific living organs, such as the liver, brain, spleen,
and kidneys, and of bone and the deeper layers of the skin that now bear
his name. Impressed by the minute structures he observed under the microscope,
he concluded that most living materials are glandular in organization,
that even the largest organs are composed of minute glands, and that these
glands exist solely for the separation or for the mixture of juices.

Malpighi's work at Messina attracted the attention of the Royal
Society in London, whose secretary, Henry Oldenburg, extended him an invitation
in 1668 to correspond with him. Malpighi's work was thereafter published
periodically in the form of letters in the Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society. In 1669 Malpighi was named an honorary
member, the first such recognition given to an Italian. From then on, all
his works were published in London.

At the peak of his fame, Malpighi could have left his tiring
medical practice and research to accept one of the many highly remunerative
positions offered to him. Instead, he chose to continue his general practice
and professorship. These years at Bologna marked the climax of his career,
when he marked out large areas of microscopy. Malpighi conducted
many studies of insect larvae--establishing, in so doing, the basis for
their future study--the most important of which was his investigation in
1669 of the structure and development of the silkworm. In his historic
work in 1673 on the embryology of the chick, in which he discovered the
aortic arches, neural folds, and somites, he generally followed William
Harvey's views on development, though Malpighi probably concluded
that the embryo is preformed in the egg after fertilization. He also made
extensive comparative studies in 1675-79 of the microscopic anatomy of
several different plants and saw an analogy between plant and animal organization.
(see also Index: silkworm moth)

During the last decade of his life Malpighi was beset by personal
tragedy, declining health, and the climax of opposition to him. In 1684
his villa was burned, his apparatus and microscopes shattered, and his
papers, books, and manuscripts destroyed. Most probably as a compensatory
move when opposition mounted against his views, and in recognition of his
stature, Pope Innocent XII invited him to Rome in 1691 as papal archiater,
or personal physician, such a nomination constituting a great honour. In
Rome he was further honoured by being named a count, he was elected to
the College of Doctors of Medicine, his name was placed in the Roman Patriciate
Roll, and he was given the title of honorary valet.

Assessment

Malpighi may be regarded as the first histologist. For almost 40
years he used the microscope to describe the major types of plant and animal
structures and in so doing marked out for future generations of biologists
major areas of research in botany, embryology, human anatomy, and pathology.
Just as Galileo had applied the new technical achievement of the optical
lens to vistas beyond the Earth, Malpighi extended its use to the
intricate organization of living things, hitherto unimagined, below the
level of unaided sight. Moreover, his lifework brought into question the
prevailing concepts of body function. When, for example, he found that
the blood passed through the capillaries, it meant that Harvey was right,
that blood was not transformed into flesh in the periphery, as the ancients
thought. He was vigorously denounced by his enemies, who failed to see
how his many discoveries, such as the renal glomeruli, urinary tubules,
dermal papillae, taste buds, and the glandular components of the liver,
could possibly improve medical practice. The conflict between ancient ideas
and modern discoveries continued throughout the 17th century. Although
Malpighi could not say what new remedies might come from his discoveries,
he was convinced that microscopic anatomy, by showing the minute construction
of living things, called into question the value of old medicine. He provided
the anatomical basis for the eventual understanding of human physiological
exchanges.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The definitive study of Malpighi is Howard Adelmann, Marcello
Malpighi and the Evolution of Embryology, 5 vol. (1966). It
contains a complete biography of Malpighi, translations from the
Latin of Malpighi's chief works with Latin on facing pages, colour
reproductions of Malpighi's illustrations, and detailed essays on
structure based on embryologists of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries
with extensive translations from French, German, and Latin. Ettore Toffoletto,
Discorso sul Malpighi (1965), provides a critical analysis
(in Italian) of Malpighi both as a man and as a scientist.